Well I checked the routing against a couple other trucks and its fine. The cable moves fine, I can't feel any binding. But I have noticed I am consuming oil at an outrageous rate. I just went through 3qts in 2000 miles. I just replaced the plenum gasket 3000 miles ago. I can see my rear main is leaking but its not even enough to make any drip marks where I park every night. So I pulled my air hat off and my intake is swimming in oil. Its all fresh new oil I just put in and it looks like it is running down from the PCV inlet. So I will be putting in a new PCV valve tomorrow. I think this will help. With 156k miles it should be replaced anyways and they're cheap.

 

It's a 60,000 mile part, if OEM, so yeah, it's ready for retirement.

Are the baffles missing from that valve cover? That seems a lot of oil for a PCV valve to pass so quickly.

 

Not sure, I will look in there when I pull the PCV. I was wondering the same thing.

 

Get your new valve from the dealer, they are actually the correct flow rate. The same can't be said for most of the aftermarket fellers......

 

I thought My rear main was leaking, and had planned to replace while I was rebuilding the tranny.
A closer inspection while investigating the best way to pop out the old seal, revealed it was the rear of the oil pan gasket instead.

 

That would be nice, much easier to do a oil pan gasket than the rear main but it doesn't even drip yet so I'll put it off for now.

I called the dealer and got a grommet and PCV saved for me.

 

Let Me phrase it More as a Question and explain....
How do you KNOW the rear Main of the block is leaking?

It wasn't until I went under and unbolted the Flywheel from the crank, that I was able to determine the real issue. With the tranny already on a bench elsewhere, and the flywheel dropped out, I was then able to see that the telltale "tear trails" or "weeping stains" of a leaking main were not present.
Instead I noticed the back of the oil pan had all the staining, and what looked like a ragged edge of RTV poking out.
I pushed up on the back edge and sure enough it made a slight "squish" sound like wet sneaker, and I saw trapped oil squeeze out.

Don't get me wrong, high mileage--it should probably be replaced, but I have created many issues and learned the hard way and at some decent expenses to follow the rule of:
"IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT"

 

Well the oil pan is completely dry (I know rare on that high of miles) and there is a slight wetness from the drain hole on the dust shield for the torque converter. I am assuming at this point it indicates the rear main but I have not investigated because at this point it is a non-issue, I agree if it ain't broke don't fix it. Also if you go looking for trouble you're going to find it.

 

So I put in the new PCV and wow my vents don't fall now. Also when the cruise is set it pulls on the pedal and come back now. The real test will be the big hill on my way to school tomorrow. Oh and the truck idles way better now.

 

Good to see the cruise is back to proper function.

Dust plate covered in cooked on nastiness.....back of the oils pan the same but slimy with fresh goo.
MY POINT EXACTLY!!! You literally just listed every single assumption I made before having the tranny out of my way to actually look at the back end of the block and seal. I ebayed a rear main seal that I ended up not needing or using to go with the 46RE gasket, clutch and seal rebuild kit I knew I needed, and still ended up having to get a ride to get the oil pan gasket after the truck was on stands with no guts under it.

I scrapped 1/3" of burnt crud off of the front of the dust cover with a narrow putty knife before cutting the rest with a bit of degreaser, and went from constantly having an oil soaked Tranny and extremely mild oil leak (1/2-3/4Q low @every change). to it staying clean-ish but importantly oil spatter free down there.

Personally I would rather do the Oil pan Gasket and have it still leak in the same place then find out I dropped the tranny for No reason at all considering how much has to be removed to get them out.

I mean 9/10 times the oil cooler lines are rusted stuck and have to be cut free of the case and replaced occasionally taking the brass fittings in the case with them as collateral damage (unless all has already been changed recently).
Dropping the tranny means you might as well drain the engine oil, because the filter blocks removal of one tranny bolt.
Not to mention if you are dropping the tranny to do the main then you might as well drain the tranny change its filter and pan gasket, as well as inspect the bands for wear and proper clearance.
And there's that the dreaded task of knocking the crossmember out and lining it up putting it back in when finished.
None of it is rocket science or overly complicated by definition, but it IS a huge PITA for a seal that May in fact NOT be damaged and leaking.